While in Boston for a long weekend, I took the opportunity to check out how people eat on the other coast. My first chance to sample the “local fare” came at Wagamama, an international Japanese food chain originally from England. Ok, so it wasn’t exactly local, but Boston is New England, so I made due with what I had.

Our waiter was a low talker, making it difficult to ascertain what he was trying to say at any given moment, but eventually we all figured out when it was time to order. After a long look at the menu, I settled upon the Chicken Katsu Curry, which is some fried chicken cutlet, rice and curry. It also came with “mixed leaves and red pickles,” which I tried to convince the low talker that I didn’t want.

I waited with high hopes for my first Wagamama dish and when it came, I was a bit upset. It seemed that my desire to not eat vegetables had fallen on the low talker’s deaf ears. Situated next to my unvegan delights were some nasty looking bits of lettuce and improbably red pickles. Luckily they weren’t very mixed in with my food, or else there would have been real trouble.

I was able to eat around the veggies pretty well and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of my meal. The chicken was nice and crispy, but the curry could have used some more kick. I know Japanese curry isn’t really expected to be spicy, but it would have made it a whole lot easier for me to forget about the vegetables.